Teaching Darkness: Rift
by Rae Logan
Summary: Part 7 in the TD series! It's Sonic's birthday, and our heroes have been invited! Too bad Dr. Eggman takes this as a chance to put his new plan in motion. We all know what Sonic went through then, so let's see this vaguely related tale of the boys' adventure through the timelines. Meant to cross with Sonic Generations.
1. Brothers

"_... M-Mephy..?_"

No response other than the light snoring and a tighter grip held onto the pillow in the hedgehog's arms.

More frantically now, the shadow reached out and shook him, lightly at first.

"... Meph-phy..." He moaned anxiously, losing the usual growlish undertone to his voice. "... G-get up... P-please..."

A slight increase in volume to the snoring, indicating that Mephiles was at the basic halfway point before being totally awake, rolling a little more on his side.

Dark finally just grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him roughly, causing Mephiles to jerk awake in a panic, crying out in shock and flailing about before he realized what happened.

"Dark! What in the-!" He started to snap at him, but quickly back peddled when he got a good look at Dark once his eyes adjusted to the dim nighttime lighting. "... Oh... Um... What's up..? You alright..?"

"... I threw up..."

Having not expected that as a possible answer, much less to be said in Dark's natural tone instead of his normal growl, Mephiles stared blankly before blinking and clearing his throat to say: "... Uh... Y-you okay, there..?"

"_... I... I dunno..._" Dark mumbled, hand pressed to one side of his head, face scrunched slightly, more so on the side facing a light source. "_... Uh... I..._" He cut himself off with a quiet whimper, gripping his fingers a little tighter on the side of his head, which Mephiles was absolutely certain beyond any doubt was the side of his skull that had the hairline fracture.

"Oh, geeze... Dark, why didn't you just say you were having a migraine?" Mephiles got up swiftly, instinctively reaching a hand to Dark's head and carefully started to lead him Dark to his bed. "... Go lay down, and I'll grab-"

Dark quickly caught him by the wrist and threw his arms around the hedgehog, as if afraid that he would disappear off the face of the planet if he didn't.

"... Um... Dark, are-?"

"_Sssssssshhhhhhhh... Shush-shush-shush..._" Dark whispered, gripping tighter. "_... Shush... Shhhhhhh... Hear that..?_"

"... Hear what..?" Mephiles was a bit worried, as Dark commonly hallucinated when he wasn't being himself.

"_... Static..._"

"St... Static?"

"_... You hear it?_" Dark sounded hopeful.

"... Like the TV on a bad channel?"

"_No, like the music when the signal is bad..._"

"The radio?"

"_I know what I'm talking about!_" Dark snapped at him, causing Mephiles to stiffen a little. "_Don't correct me!_"

"I-I wasn't-"

"_Shush... Hear that, too..?_"

The hedgehog heaved an exasperated sigh.

"... Is it static..?"

"_... No, buzzing. Why would you say that? When have I ever heard static like that?_"

Mephiles inhaled sharply, trying to keep from snapping back out of annoyance. Exhaling calmly, he said gently: "If I recall correctly, you were in the middle of having a migraine, so it might be wise for you to lay down before you get sick."

"_Already did. That's why I woke you up._"

"I know. Now, please, let's just get you back down before it happens again... Okay?" Mephiles forced a small smile, and pried himself loose carefully, holding Dark by the wrists. "Besides that, how are you? Are you burning up? You're not shaky, are you? How about-?"

"_Shhhhhhhhh... Shhhh-shhhh-shhhh..._" Dark hushed him again, giggling a little and pressing a finger against the hedgehog's lips, making Mephiles flinch back briefly. "_You worry too much, you know?_"

"Only because I care." Mephiles smiled back a little, pushing the hand away gently. "That, and I've noticed a pattern in you acting screwy which seems to predate something far worse."

"_Pfffft... Oh, now you're just being paranoid..._"

"And you've got a slight temperature again..." Mephiles touched his fingers to Dark's forehead. "Not a bad one, thankfully, but you're definitely warmer than you usually are."

"_... It's the weather, I suppose..._"

"And that's why we have the collar, remember? It regulates your temperature in warmer places..."

"_I don't wanna wear it right now._" Dark shoved his hand away and stuck out his tongue mild disgust.

"If it gets to where there's a heat danger with you, we'll have to, I'm sorry, Dark." Mephiles frowned a little, shaking his head slightly. "Besides, it's totally safe to use now, so if you're worried about being electrocuted, it's not going to happen."

"_Still feel it, sometimes..._"

"If you just let me heal it all at once, the marks will be gone, y'know."

"_Then you'd have it instead of me._" Dark shook his head and folded his arms. "_No. Nuh-uh. Nope. Best if we do that gradually, so you have time to heal over in between..._"

"Then it'll be months before it's gone!" Mephiles rose his voice just a bit, trying to convey that the idea sounded ridiculous to him. "Granted, it would take longer on it's own, but still... If I can help, you know I-"

"_I know you would. You have, and you always will, if no one stops you..._" Dark interrupted. "_Knowing you, you'd keep at it well after the burns are gone, and try and heal all the rest at once, no matter how much it hurt you._"

Mephiles mumbled sheepishly, which sounded like a reluctant agreement.

"_You'd completely overlook the possibility of what the absolute onslaught of old injuries being transferred to you would do._"

"... Th-That wouldn't even cr-cross my mind..."

"_Exactly._"

"Well, you still have to start wearing it soon, if you want to not have heat stroke when the weather starts getting all hot."

Dark grumbled something back, and shrugged while looking at the floor.

"We should really get back to bed before Shadow and Rouge catch us up this late..." Mephiles added, giggling nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "You of all people need the rest most right now, anyway..."

"_... Don't feel like sleeping right now..._"

Mephiles blinked, not exactly fooled, as he could see Dark trying to suppress a yawn rather poorly.

Something was up.

"... You know you can tell me anything, right?" Mephiles added, perking his ears forward a little. "... I won't laugh, even if you think it's embarrassing..."

Dark's pale face flushed a deep crimson around the cheeks, and he quickly dropped his head, mumbling under his breath, rubbing his arm nervously.

"Hmm..?" Mephiles hummed softly, asking him to speak up a bit more. "I'm sorry, I can't hear that..."

Dark shuddered briefly, glancing at his twin, who was impressively still asleep on the floor, in his "Shu" form, on the pile of bedding they laid out for him. His face paled a little more and his eyes widened as he shook his head quickly, moaning feebly.

"Dark, don't be scared, nothing bad'll happen." Mephiles assured him gently, catching Dark's hands in his own to pull him forward a bit more, Dark struggling against it weakly. "Please, I can't do anything to help if I don't know what's wrong..."

Dark stared at him with a horrified look, eyes watering and jaw trembling before he finally burst into tears loud enough to wake the whole house with his shrieks of anguish.

The following happened in the next two minutes.

Mephiles quickly let go of him and slammed his hands onto his own ear flaps, trying to save the hearing in his eardrums from being at ground zero of the sound explosion.

Iblis, who had been sound asleep up until that point, jumped up and had a handful of flames ready as a reflex, but Mephiles saw this and quickly extinguished it with a quick puff of shadow, mouthing to Iblis how that was a bad idea at the moment.

Iblis, thankfully having kept his "Shu" form, furiously gestured to the wailing shadow, glaring at the hedgehog as if it had been his fault from the start that his brother was so upset. Mephiles gave him a look that clearly questioned how Iblis had any thought in his mind that Mephiles would purposely do that.

With that minute passed, the next one brought the next half of the events, with the room door slamming open to show Shadow holding a Chaos Spear in a defense stance, and Rouge briefly facepalming at Shadow's quick to use his attacks response to this, as the lights flicked on.

"... If you were paying enough mind, it would have been clear that it was cry of anguish, not someone being attacked..." Rouge said levelly, slowly stuffing earplugs into her ears to free up her hands.

"Can't be too careful..." Shadow blushed nervously, dissipating the Spear. "... Which reminds me... What just happened?"

"I was trying to figure that out myself." Mephiles spoke over Dark's cries, hands still covering his ears. "I just asked him what was wrong, and after a few more times, he just burst into tears. I really don't-" Mephiles stopped mid-sentence, twitching his nose and cringing slightly after a quick sniff. "... Oh. Actually... I think I know what happened, now..."

Dark had already sunk to the floor now, and had his flushed face buried in his hands, curling inward as if wanting nothing more than to disappear at this moment, howling miserably.

"... Dark..." Mephiles said softly, carefully reaching over and placing a hand on Dark's back, trying to calm him down any way he could. He whispered to him: "... You missed the bucket, didn't you..?"

Dark gasped harshly, trying to catch his breath well enough to respond.

"_... I... I-I... Th-that's never... That's never h-happened b-before..." He stammered, shaking his head and wailing even more._

Shadow wisely chose not to bring up the time he got barfed on, anticipating the response to be even worse than it was now.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, it wasn't on purpose, right?" Mephiles tried to assure him calmly. "I'm sure you're not the first to have that happen. Heck, I've done it before, too..."

Dark didn't seem comforted by the idea, and reached up to shove the hedgehog away forcefully, curling up again.

Mephiles sighed heavily, rubbing his fingers below his ears in frustration.

"... I can't help if you don't let me..."

Dark pulled himself under his bed, kicking a few unwritten notebooks out of the way. Not long after, a blueish glimmer indicated he was now staring out from under the bed, as his eyes were reflecting the moment he shifted around to look out from underneath.

"... Now, c'mon... You don't wanna sleep under there... It's dusty..." Mephiles shook his head lightly and reached under the bed carefully, speaking gently. "It's also a bit bad for claustrophobic people like you, so I think you'd feel better if you just crawled out of there..."

No response they could hear.

"... I'll come after you if I have to."

Nothing.

"... You wanna make some noise of some kinda to let me know you didn't lapse into some kind of fear induced black out at the realization that this is a bad little enclosed space to be in?"

"_... Hmph_"

"It's something..." Mephiles shrugged, sighing. "... Please come out..?"

Quiet again.

Mephiles sighed once more.

"... Might as well start cleaning up before it sets..." He muttered, shaking his head slowly.

A groan of humiliation sounded off ever so softly beneath the bed.

Fifteen minutes passed, with the clean up taken care of, a clean set of blankets and sheets put on the bed, the washer humming in the garage, and Dark still retreated beneath the bed, refusing to come out.

"You can't spend all night there..." Mephiles tried again, visibly tired as he shut off the lights, motioning for Iblis to make sure the plug-in nightlight was on to mask over the glow of the flame's eyes to no make Shadow and Rouge suspicious, should they check in later. "... It's all been taken care of, you can come out now."

Whatever the response was, it didn't sound like a "Yes".

Mephiles sighed again, exasperatedly.

"You really should come out, if you aren't feeling well, Dark." Iblis/Shu offered his own words, having been silent through most of this ordeal. "I can't imagine it to be very comfortable, after all."

A loud sniffle.

"_No._"

"'No' what?"

"_No._"

"... He doesn't want to come out..." Mephiles stated, yawning a little.

"Well, no spit he doesn't want to come out, I think he's made that perfectly clear! He just won't tell us _why_ he doesn't want to pull himself out from under there!" Iblis snapped at the hedgehog irritably.

Almost immediately, Dark's soft whine changed to low howl of dread.

"... You're upsetting him more..." Mephiles blinked, trying to not sound accusing, but finding it hard to with that word choice.

"Oh, it's suddenly _my_ fault?"

"N-no... I meant that th- the reason he d-doesn't want t-to come out is b-because he thinks you're g-going to be angry with him..."

"And why would I be that!"

"... Well, f-for one, you're s-snapping at us..." Mephiles explained in a stutter cautiously, twiddling his fingers together. "... Two, he's upset and not th-thinking clearly, so he's assuming th-the worst already. And th-three... He feels like he j-just messed up badly, and y'know h-how he reacts to m-mistakes and accidents... Especially if he's e-embarrassed..."

"_I'm only snapping at you because I find it frustrating that I can't even calm down my own little brother after a bad fright or upset because he's too terrified of me half the time!_" Iblis growled back, temporarily dropping his "Shu" voice.

"It's n-nothing against you, I'm shuh-sure... He's p-probably afraid of triggering s-something, when he really sh-shouldn't hafta worry..." Mephiles tried to reassure frantically, smiling nervously. "... He loves you more th-than he could ever b-be scared of you..."

"... It really doesn't show sometimes..." Iblis huffed, glaring at Mephiles jealously. "... How many nights since I started being a regular here has he woken _me_ up first if he had a problem?"

"... Now, you c-can't really hold that against him..." Mephiles held his hands up as is to half shield himself. "... He probably didn't want to bother you-"

"As his twin, I'd like to think it shouldn't be a problem at all!"

"... Please not so loud, I'm not the only one with good hearing, remember?" Mephiles said in a hushed tone, looking at the door anxiously. "... I meant that he probably didn't want to startle you, because you do wake up rather tense and half ready to slap something if you're roused some way other than gradually..."

"I do not!"

"... Did we forget the flame you conjured up earlier before Shadow and Rouge showed up..?"

"I heard Dark scream, I reacted accordingly..."

"They could have caught that, y'know..."

"I really hate that I have to hide who I really am when it's not the three of us... It gets really hard sometimes..."

"But we have to take it slow. If we don't, you already know what might happen... We don't want that..."

"... No..."

"Right." Mephiles nodded slowly. "Anyway, I suppose another reason he might have for coming to me first, is probably because of the whole being separated from me for a few months, and having the spend the next one or so afterwards afraid that he was going to lose me for good..."

"If I recall, him and I spent a whole decade apart from each other..."

"I'm not denying that... But after a while, he just felt that he lost you already and was convinced that you were never coming back. You already know how much that broke him." Mephiles reminded the flame gently. "... Before he started figuring out how to be more tangible for me to see him, he just went dead silent for a long time when it really sunk in. I remember sensing him still around, but for the longest time I could keep track of, he didn't talk or give me much indication that he could really hear me..."

"That really doesn't help much..." Iblis grunted, shaking his head.

"All I'm trying to say here is that maybe after what he went though with Dire, he's still trying to adjust to the way things are now. Now he's got us both, especially after he had been so sure that we died at some point or another..." The hedgehog added. "... But some habits will take a while before he grows out of them, or at least manages them better. He loves you, regardless, and nothing will change that..."

"_Really? Because it sure didn't feel that way when he wanted nothing to do with me a while back._" Iblis snarked back, causing Mephiles to flinch.

"... No amount of what I say to 'why' on that will do anything to lessen that..." Mephiles muttered dreadfully, shaking his head before speaking louder. "I guess you didn't know about how he got even more down than he usually is, after you sorta disappeared and we all took you for dead. He'd tell me about these dreams he'd have about the two of you before things went bad, even."

Before Iblis could add his observations, Dark's voice drifted in between that feebly.

"_... It's... It's d-dark under here..._"

"... Do you need help get out of there?" Mephiles was the first to respond.

"... Brother's g-getting angry... Making my h-head hurt again..." Dark mumbled, losing his growl again. "... P-please don't fight... Please d-don't... I'm s-sorry... I d-didn't mean to f-favor anyone more than th-the other..."

"We're not fighting, Dark." Mephiles quickly added, glancing sidewise at Iblis, who looked as though he would have rather been slapped than to have heard Dark voice such a worry. "We're just getting a bit snappish because it's late and we're all just tired..."

"... Brother's m-mad... Head always h-hurts when he's mad... T-too much negative energy..."

"I keep forgetting that! I'm so sorry, Dark!" Iblis whispered frantically, dropping his voice back to the pitch and tone he used with "Shu", looking all the more guilty. "I'll stop right now, if you want!"

"... M-Mephy..? Where are you..? I d-don't like it under here... G-get me out..."

Iblis felt like he had been ignored, but before he sent a slight glare Mephiles' way, he caught himself, worried that he'd make his twin brother's headache worse.

"... Be easier to pull you out if you change into a cat or something... Your quills will get you stuck, otherwise..." The hedgehog tried coaxing the shadow under the bed.

Eventually, Dark was finally retrieved from his hiding spot, having taken Mephiles' suggestion of becoming a cat, and immediately flattened his body against the hedgehog's shoulder, forcefully nudging his head into Mephiles quills as if to hide his embarrassment of having reacted as such.

"... Um... Yeah... So..." Mephiles could feel Iblis behind him staring at him intently, feeling incredibly awkward knowing that the flame was starting to get just a bit jealous of his twin's preference of the hedgehog over himself. Thinking hurriedly for a compromise to make everyone happy, he tried to detached Dark from his shoulder, but was greeted with a sudden prick of retractable claws trying to anchor the cat shaped shadow in place. Dark obviously wasn't ready to move. "... Aw, nuts..."

"Well, he sure doesn't seem to want to let go of you."

"I noticed. It's not my fault!" Mephiles whispered nervously, not at all liking how he felt caught in the middle of this. "... Really, even on a bad day, he's not usually this clingy... That's usually me that gets like that..."

"... You know, you're right. He's not like that often..." Iblis finally sounded less jealous and more observant once that fact sunk in, much to Mephiles' relief. "... Unless something really unsettled him."

"But, the thing about that is that I would have felt it, too." Mephiles reminded him, turning slightly to look at Iblis. "We're emotionally linked, remember..? And I didn't feel anything..."

"... Is it possible for you to miss it if you're asleep?"

"..." Mephiles inhaled to start his almost automatic response, but paused when he considered a possibility. Blinking and frowning slightly, he said: "... I've been woken up a few times before when he gets really unsettled, but I can't really say that it had happened every time, so honestly, I can't say 'yes' to that completely..." He shook his head carefully, cautious to not let his sharp quill edges scrape against the shadow cat's face pressed against them. "Not unless I've been awake every time he's been... Which I know I haven't always..."

"Then it could just be that he had another one of those... Well, y'know..." Iblis hesitated in flat out saying "bad dream" or "nightmare", considering how Dark would likely be embarrassed even further upon hearing the word choice.

"... He was trying to wake me up earlier..." Mephiles said slowly, reaching up absentmindedly to pet Dark on the head. "... And he did get sick... That happens with me after them sometimes, even..."

"But, they'd been getting less frequent with him, I thought..?"

"Doesn't mean they're gone completely. Just less common." Mephiles shook his head lightly again.

Suddenly, Dark shifted back into his usual form with a **POOF!** with the sudden weight difference relative to what stance Mephiles had causing the hedgehog to topple backwards with a strangled cry of shock. Dark was sitting on the fallen hedgehog, pale face flushed from overall embarrassment, thought lightly not from what just happened just now.

"D-Dark! Geh-off!" Mephiles huffed, squirming a bit to be able to sit up. "I think you're crushing my spleen!"

"_I believe your spleen would be higher up, and that it would be impossible for me to actually crush it doing this..._"

"My liver then! You're breaking my liver!"

"_Also impossible. You don't know much about internal organ work, do you?_"

"Would you just get off before you bruise a kidney?" Mephiles reach up to shove Dark sideways, which Dark simply allowed himself to topple over without even reaction much, just blinking when he hit the floor. "You're not normally that heavy! What happened!"

"_Looks and shadows aren't the only things I can manipulate._" Dark looked up and grinned nervously as he braced a hand against the floor to push himself back up. "_Granted, it depends on whether I feel like moving or not. My density just changes, so I just _feel_ heavier._"

"Well, it sure feels like you cracked a-"

"_Either the next word out of your mouth is going to be 'bone', or you fail at physiology forever._"

"I'm eleven, maybe twelve years old, and I have never been inside a classroom before. Give me credit for at least knowing about the spleen."

"_Do you even know what it does?_"

"Do you?"

"_... Um..._"

"And you're giving _me_ a bad time about that? Hypocrite."

"You feeling better now, Dark?" Iblis spoke up, having been sitting on the floor, legs crossed and was leaning forward, head resting in his hands.

Dark jumped a little and quickly looked down, trying to hide the light vermillion shade that was rising in his cheeks again.

"_... Mmm..._" He grunted, sounding more like a "Maybe" than a "Yes" or "No".

Iblis sighed awkwardly.

"You don't have to be embarrassed around me, y'know that, right?"

"_... I can't help it sometimes..._"

Iblis shot a brief look at Mephiles, who was quick to seem incredibly interested in the wood grain of his bed frame.

"Sure is getting late..." The hedgehog said in a half sing-songish tone, as if trying to draw attention to the fact that he felt they should all be sleeping by now.

"So it is."

"... Maybe we should go back to sleep now..?"

* * *

"Huh... Look at that, a letter from Tails..." Shadow said the following morning, sifting through the mail. "Wonder what he wants..?"

"We don't usually get mail unless it's bills, junk or something from Sonic..." Mephiles said, reaching for a waffle with a fork from the plate in the center. "Wonder what it's about..?"

"Well let's see..." Shadow set the rest of the mail down on the counter and shuffled through the cutlery drawer for a knife to open the letter with. "Okay, let's take a look..."

"Dark, just take the waffle."

"_It touched bacon, Mephy. I don't want it..._" Dark whined, pushing it away with another plate.

"You have to be the only person who doesn't like bacon..."

"He's a vegetarian, Shadow. Of course he doesn't like bacon."

"His loss." Shu shrugged, taking the bacon infected waffle instead.

"Well, what's the letter say?" Mephiles looked up.

"Oh, right, the letter..." Shadow pulled it out of the envelope and scanned his eyes over it. "... Let's see... He says that he wants to know how that cooling collar for Dark works, if you've been able to use it yet. Also... Oh..."

"What?"

"Is it already that time..?"

"What?" Rouge leaned over to read it as well. "Oh. Already?"

"Guys, I don't know what you mean..."

"Sonic's birthday is coming up, and Tails wants to know if we can show up for the party..." Shadow said, folding up the letter. "We weren't able to last year because of... Stuff. But I'm sure it's a hit and miss this time too, because I'm sure that Dark won't-"

"_You're assuming again._"

"You actually want to go?"

"_I didn't say that._" Dark shrugged half heartedly while absentmindedly petting Tape as the cat lay curled on his lap.

"Then what's the problem?"

"Actually, that could be fun." Mephiles smiled. "Sonic and Tails are really nice, you know. I don't think you met Sonic yet, Dark..."

"_After what happened last time we almost did meet, I still don't think it's a great idea to cross paths..._" Dark frowned slightly. "_How about if we wait another... Five, ten years..?_"

"Oh, please. He won't even know about that. We don't even look like that anymore." Mephiles snorted. "And really, he's a nice guy. I don't know why Shadow tries to avoid him so much, even."

"Because he tries too hard to shoehorn me into everything."

"You should be happy that he wants to be your friend." Rouge glanced sidewise at Shadow and smiled slightly.

"Can we go anyway?" Mephiles grinned. "When is it?"

"The twenty-third." Shadow folded the paper back up. "But really, it depends on whether we are able to and if everyone wants to..."

"It could be fun, right?"

"Shadow's right, though." Rouge reminded him. "It depends on how it all turns out."

* * *

"Is it just me, or is Kai getting lighter?"

"_Feels the same to me._"

"No, I mean the color. Like grayer, instead of blackish."

Dark glanced sidewise at the Chao being held up inches from his face, then at Mephiles, back to Kai, and then Mephiles again. He gave a disinterested shrug.

"Dark, I'm serious. Should he be getting lighter?" Mephiles stamped his foot impatiently.

"_You should know by now that Chao respond to how they are treated. Getting lighter means that they are changing alignment..._"

"And that's... Good..?"

"_What do you think?_" Dark said a little more snappish than he meant to have. He cringed when Mephiles flinched, and Shu/Iblis tilted his head in baffled concern. "_... What..?_"

"Something bothering you..?" Shu said carefully.

"_Hmm?_"

"Because if there is, y'know you can tell us..?"

"_What? Oh!_" Dark spun a bit in his chair, bracing an arm against the tabletop. "_No! Nothing like that! I'm just a bit irritated from the lack cooled nights lately..._"

"Maybe it's time to start wearing that collar again..." Mephiles said slowly, placing Kai back down. "It's not winter anymore, and too much heat makes you sick-"

"_No, I'm fine!_" Dark snapped back, Mephiles noticing a flicker of anxiety dance across the shadow's features briefly. "_Really!_"

"Dark, last time you suffered heat stroke, you were quite ill." Shu frowned slightly. "I'm sure you remember what I'm talking about."

"Daaaaark..." Mephiles half whined upon hearing that. "You could have really been hurt..."

"_... Is there anything that happens the doesn't make you say that..?_" Dark growled under his breath.

"It wouldn't hurt to start wearing it soon." Shu offered as advice. "Before you get heat stroke again, at least."

Dark made a small noise that didn't seem much an answer at all.

"I could go get it right now." Mephiles said, smiling a little and turning to retrieve it.

Dark was swift to catch him by the arm.

"_Not. Right. Now._" Dark said in a low and irritated tone.

Mephiles stared back with wide eyes, the small smile long fallen from his face now.

"... D-D-Dark... Th-that hurts..." He whimpered, reaching a shaky hand to pry loose carefully.

Dark quickly let go and withdrew his hand as though he might have been burned, though he looked more like he was startled than anything.

"_I-I'm sorry! I just don't want to wear it!_"

"Why not? Dark, you know what will happen if you let yourself overheat!" Shu frowned. "Let us get it for you."

"_No!_" Dark shouted defensively, pushing up from the chair and stepping away from his brothers, who watched him in concern as his voice raised in pitch. "_I don't want-! I c-can't-! No! No! It's going to burn! It'll hurt me!_"

"Dark, Tails took out the shock part, remember? It's just a cooling collar now." Mephiles reached out gently, stepping towards Dark carefully, Dark flinching before calming back down once Mephiles touched his shoulder. "That won't happen to you again, I promise."

Dark dropped his gaze to the floor dejectedly but didn't respond.

"You trust me, don't you? I promised you. You trust me, right?" The hedgehog added frantically, eyes starting to shimmer. "If I didn't think it was safe for you, I wouldn't be trying to make you wear it..."

There was quite a hesitation before Dark finally lifted his eyes and gave a heavy lidded stare before the corners of his mouth twitched and and he formed a small, gentle smile.

"_... Of course I trust you... I've always trusted you..._" Dark raised his hands to wring them nervously as Mephiles put his other hand on the other shoulder as well. "_... I... I just don't feel... right wearing it... It was what I had to wear when I was captive... It shocked me every time I tugged at it... It left burns on my neck..._"

"It won't do that again. It's only going to keep you from overheating. We don't want you to overheat, you'll get sick." Mephiles sniffled and nodded sharply, forcing a smile back on his face.

"I could go get it..." Shu offered, but Mephiles shook his head, much to the annoyed confusion from the green and tan colored hedgehog with black markings.

"No. I should get it. You can stay here with, Dark... You guys need some time alone together, anyway..."

"I doubt ten seconds count that much..." Shu growled lowly.

"I'm not that fast... And honestly, every second should count." Mephiles pulled his hands away. "Seriously, if I had said you should get it, I have the feeling that you would have been getting jealous that I was the one staying behind with Dark."

"Why don't we ask Dark what he thinks about it?"

"Why don't we not?" Mephiles shook his head again, looking appalled by the idea as Dark inhaled sharply and grit his teeth, shuddering. "You can't force him to decide like that! You know that! Why are you doing that!"

Before Shu could answer, Dark squeezed his eyes shut, which had a couple of tears gathering in the corners, dropped his head and shouted: "Brother can stay with me! I don't mind! Mephy can get the collar! I don't mind! _I don't mind! I DON'T MIND!_"

"D-Dark... P-Please calm down..." Mephiles stammered, ears folding back and eyes widening, catching Dark's shoulders again. "... Um... Why... Why don't we all just go together..? Y-Yeah... That would have b-been a lot easier... Why didn't I th-think of that to begin with..?" He gave an anxious giggle, trying to help being ease back to the conversation, but instead sounded like he needed the convincing the most. "Y-yeah... Why d-don't we all j-just go together..? You like that, Dark? Is that b-better..?"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to upset anyone!" Shu waved his hands in front of himself frantically, looking shocked with what he did, and just about close to tears as well. "Let's go with that suggestion! Everyone will be happy then! And you'll be happier, too, won't you, Dark?"

Dark opened his eyes slowly and looked up cautiously at his twin behind his hands that he was hiding his face in.

"_... Don't be mad at Mephy... He just wants to do the same thing as you..._"

"D-Dark, we really shouldn't be b-bringing that up..." Mephiles turned away awkwardly. "... Let's j-just drop it and g-go get that c-collar now..."

"No, you just go with him. He likes you better anyway." Shu snapped, folding his arms and baring his teeth a little.

Mephiles' fur stood on end as he felt a sudden jolt of energy in the air, followed by a steady increase. His eyes widened instantly, his pupiless irises shrinking as he slowly looked over his shoulder at Dark.

Dark was livid.

Oh, Chaos, that was not good.

Before Mephiles could intervene, Dark grabbed Shu's upper arm and threw him face first into the fridge door, causing the room to fall chillingly silent from shock, save for the angered huffs of air from Dark, who looked as though he was thinking about doing that again without question.

Shu, dazed, looked up from the floor with a shocked look that was only bested by the mute terror Mephiles had on his own face, before a metaphorical fire lit up behind the green hedgehog's eyes.

"You... You ungrateful little _brat!_" Shu's voice dropped back into Iblis' growl as he pushed up from the floor and a faint trickle of smoke escaped him as he huffed angrily. "_You have no idea how patient I've been with you, do you! I have been_ trying_ to be what I couldn't have been before, but ever since _he _woke up from his coma, you've been doing nothing but latching on to him, and you've even started to be afraid of me again!_"

"_I almost lost him! What did you _expect_ me to do after all that! He nearly died! _You're_ the one who's been acting up!_"

"G-guys..? S-Stop... P-please..?" Mephiles stammered in a small voice, quite certain they wouldn't hear him at all, and he wondered if it was wise of him to say anything at all during this.

"I've_ been acting up? Who's the one who wouldn't come out from under the bed the other night because he threw up on it!_" Shu/Iblis shouted, eyes starting to glow orange, much to Mephiles' apprehension.

"_That wasn't why I was hiding!_" Dark screeched angrily, stomping his foot. "_It's not like I _purposely_ vomited so I'd have an excuse to hide under there!_"

"_Then why did you! You never told us the real reason!_"

"_No!_"

"... S-seriously... Sh-Shadow and Rouge will b-be home any m-minute... T-tone it down qu-quick..." Mephiles stuttered, glancing at the door.

"_I'm not asking you to ignore him, but it would be nice if once in a while you came to _me _when something was bugging you!_" Iblis/Shu gestured to himself frantically. "_I care, too! I'm your older brother, for crying out loud!_"

"_We're twins! You're not that much older than me!_"

"_I consider myself older than you by enough that I feel like I should be the protective one!_"

"_Then what was all that before we split apart!_"

Mephiles was opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, unable to get a word out now. He was quite shocked at the moment that this was happening, much less in the kitchen.

"_I-! Y-You know very well that I wasn't in my right mind at the time! I was trying to protect you!_" Iblis, who amazingly had kept himself enough in check to not have recklessly shifted back into his real form during this fight, grabbed a nearby plate out of the dish drainer and flung it at Dark, who dodged it with a swift movement, raised his hand and flicked his wrist upward, an action that was accompanied by the nearby microwave exploding and smacking Iblis in the face with the door.

"_You can't just reverse over a decade of trauma just by acting the exact opposite of what I'm used to! It's scares me!_"

"_I'm not acting! This is how I really am when I'm not crazy!_"

"_You're acting crazy now, throwing plates at me!_"

"_You threw me into a fridge door! I think that's well justified!_"

"_Because you want me to decide between you and Mephy! I can't do that! You _know_ I can't do that! I don't want to hurt either of you!_"

"_Oh!_" Iblis said loudly, still keeping his raised tone of voice, but sounding less infuriated now. "_Well, why didn't you just say that from the start, instead of throwing me at the fridge!_"

"_You made me mad!_" Dark followed the same tone as well, still shouting, but not sounding as angry as he was seconds ago. "_When you said that I like Mephy better than you, that hurt! I don't like either one of you more than the other! It wouldn't be fair!_"

"_... Then why don't you come to me anymore when you're upset..?_" Iblis dropped his tone.

"_... Because I have to be careful about what I do around you..._" Dark dropped his tone as well, lowering his head. "_... I don't want them to get suspicious and find out you're really Iblis before we can find a way to explain it... I don't want to risk having you taken away..._"

Both went silent.

Mephiles inhaled sharply, having stopped breathing for a good minute. He blinked, looked around and twitched his ears slightly. No sign of Shadow and Rouge yet...

"... Um... I-I'll clean up the b-b-broken p-plate, and g-get the c-collar by m-myself..." Mephiles stammered quietly, shuddering a little. "... Y-You t-two j-just st-stay here..." He retrieved a broom and dustpan out of the hall closet. "N-now I have to f-figure out how t-to tell th-them we need a new m-microwave..."


	2. Juncture

It's nighttime.

The TV is on.

It's awkward.

It's so darn awkward.

Mephiles was sitting at the far end of the couch, with Dark pressed up against him, and Iblis/Shu leaning against Dark.

There's about three large sized cushions to sit in on that couch, but for some reason, the three of them appear to be trying to fit on just one.

Mephiles shifted himself a little more towards the armrest, but Dark quickly moves with him like he's glued there, and Shu keeps leaning on Dark.

A cat and three Chao, one of which a baby, are part of this sideways pile, and Mephiles can't help but feel like the collective heat trapped under all the fur is a bit much. Not for Dark, who is finally wearing the cooling collar. No. It's getting a bit too hot for Mephiles under all this.

"... There's enough cushions for the three of us to sit on our own, y'know..?" He tried in what he hoped was a polite tone.

"_And split a part so they can get us faster? Nuh-uh!_" Dark shakes his head quickly, causing a mild friction between his and Mephiles' quills.

"It's just a movie, Dark... Heck, I'm not even all that scared." Mephiles rolled his eyes. "I mean, all it is is that-SONOVA-! AUGH!"

"_See! You're scared, too!_" Dark chimed in.

"I'm not sc-scared! That was just g-gross!" Mephiles frowned and stuck his tongue out in disgust. "I just d-don't like seeing th-things crawling under th-the skin!"

"Maybe if they just burn it all..." Shu added in a bored tone, lifting his head a little to look at them both. "It's a plant, right? It should be vulnerable to fire."

"It was screeching at them earlier, I doubt at this point it's even natural..." Mephiles covered his eyes with his hands, but spread his fingers just enough to see through anyway.

"_Besides, burning it would just make it go to seed faster, and spread those all over the place. Terrible idea._" Dark wagged a finger almost scoldingly.

"I swear, this murderous plants movie marathon is weird." Shu sighed, shaking his head. "It baffles me that there's enough of them to make such a marathon..."

"I thought it would be a nice change from all the shark, snake, crocodile and zombie movies..." Mephiles squeezed his eyes shut again. "But I didn't realize that it could actually be a bit unsettling... This channel is weird..."

"_Then change it._"

"Then we won't see the end and never know what happened!"

"It's obvious, isn't it? They all die. There is logically no way anyone can get out of that alive, if the plants infect them the moment they've brushed against it." Shu pointed out. "And they've all touched it. It's only a matter of time until the plants decide when to kill them..."

"_If they don't kill themselves first, that is._" Dark added. "_The stress, isolation from the outside world, the constant fear and sleep deprivation is driving them all mad anyway. If that one girl is anything to compare to, then the plants are the ones doing the mercy killing._"

"I'd c-claw at myself too if some vine like p-plant was crawling in my skin like that!" Mephiles snapped back. "That's not natural! It's horrific! There can't be anything worse than that!"

Mephiles opened his eyes slowly when he didn't get a response. He looked up at Dark, who was leaning even closer with the strangest grin on his face. Almost like a smirk.

"D-Dark..?"

"_Nothing worse, hmm..?_" The smirk widened, a flash of light from the TV made the catlike pupils shine in a way glasses might in an anime program.

The hedgehog's fur bristled and he twitched as he shifted his eyes to look at Shu, who seemed just as confused as he was, but nowhere near as startled.

"... Um... What are you doing..?" Shu raised an eyebrow.

"_Mephy thinks there's nothing worse than creepy plants that get under the skin._"

"D-Dark, st-stop it... Th-that's not funny..." Mephiles whimpered, trying to pull away, but was still somewhat pinned under the combined weight of everyone.

"_You forgot that we're in _my _element right now..._" A short giggle escaped Dark as the shadow suddenly disappeared from sight, causing Shu to fall forward a bit from the sudden lack of someone to lean against.

"Hey! Dark, what are you doing?" Shu frowned as he glanced around cautiously. "This better not be another one of your big bubble domes of darkness again!"

"_Oh, I know what I'm doing this time..._" Dark's voice sounded off behind the two hedgehogs, causing Mephiles and Shu to quickly look over the back of the couch, but they found nothing.

"Daaaaark... Stop messing with us..." Mephiles half whined, sliding back down to sit in his spot, withdrawing his limbs close to make himself smaller.

"_Still think the plants are scarier?_" Dark's voice sounded from below the couch now.

"Yes, b-because I know you won't tr-try to eat me."

No sooner did he say that, than did something cold, wet and slimy slide against the back of his ear.

Mephiles' eyes shot wide open, and he screamed as he pulled away from the source of the horrible sensation with flailing arms.

Dark was leaning on the armrest with his mouth open and tongue out, the grin still on his face.

"Th-that wasn't funny, D-Dark!" Mephiles shouted at him, tearing up a little as he wiped at his ear flaps frantically. "You c-could have given me a p-panic attack!"

Dark slipped his tongue back in his mouth and snorted as he tried to keep from bursting into laughter.

"I have to agree with him, that was a bit cruel..." Shu gave Dark a disapproving look.

"Is everything alright in here?"

All three boys jumped a little and looked over at the white bat who was standing just outside the hallway entrance, watching them closely.

Mephiles quickly got up from the couch, shoved past Dark, and threw his arms around Rouge, shuddering a little.

"D-Dark licked my ear!"

_That_ was four words she didn't expect to hear in the same sentence.

"Is that so..?" She looked over at Dark, who quickly ducked out of sight.

"_He said that the plants in the movie where the most horrible thing ever!_" Dark shouted back in defense. "_I was proving him wrong!_"

"H-He melted b-back into a sh-shadow and snuck up on me!"

"_Honestly, I was really going to just tickle that spot on your back between the shoulder quills, but when you said the plants were scarier because they'd be able to eat you..._" Dark explained, snickering a little, lifting his head into view a bit. "_It just was too perfect of a chance to pass up..._"

"Why are d-defending plants anyway? You eat th-them!"

"_Correction, I eat fruits, vegetables, nuts and other edible plant matter. That plant there is a type of ivy. Totally inedible to me._"

"They all grow in the ground!"

"Hey, Dark? Question?" Shu suddenly asked, as if he wasn't caring too much about what exactly was going on now. "You said you don't eat meat because you don't like the idea of eating something weaker than you are..."

"_... Yes..._"

"Isn't a plant weaker than you too?"

"_I have to eat _some_thing._" Dark stuck his tongue out again.

Rouge probably would have scolded Dark or something for pulling such a trick on Mephiles, if not for the fact that Dark wasn't often in such a mood to be playful like that. No point in spoiling a silly mood like that, especially with Dark still having some difficulty in adjusting back to the comfort of being in the safety of home. No one was hurt beyond some rattled nerves, anyway. And Dark was just acting closer to his age.

She glanced over at the TV and cringed at the current scene playing.

"Alright, I think that's enough of this movie, you guys. Time to turn it off and go to bed."

Even Mephiles groaned in disappointment.

* * *

It's still nighttime.

The house is quiet.

Dark is awake.

Dark is wide awake.

He had another bad dream, but was lucky to not wake up screaming.

He just couldn't fall asleep again. He had that vulnerable feeling all around him, no matter which way he rolled over to rest.

He knew better than to think something was going to reach out at grab him unexpectedly, but it didn't stop the feeling at all.

He felt... small. He hated feeling small.

He rolled over to glance at the sleeping hedgehog across from him, three Chao nuzzled up to Mephiles. No way he would be able to sneak himself there as a cat without waking too many people up...

Speaking of cats, his own one was curled up above his head on the pillow, trying to stay close, but the summer heat was a bit much for the fur on the feline.

Dark lifted his head a little to look at his twin.

Sleeping alone, of course.

Dark wondered briefly if Iblis ever felt scared at night. Hardly any light, out of his element... Heck, even Dark was troubled by it sometimes, and it was his own element.

_Of course Brother doesn't get scared..._

He cheek twitched a little as a tiny smile crept on his face.

_Rather, he doesn't get scared "of"... He gets scared "for". He worries..._

Dark carefully got off the bed and stood still for a moment. He had to think of a proper way to do this without startling anyone.

He smiles a little more.

Of course.

He stepped over to his twin carefully, sat down without making much sound, and leaned forward, bracing himself loosely, hanging his head a little, and half closing his eyes.

He was going to look like he had been sleepwalking again.

It would take a while before he was noticed, surely. But much better an idea than just waking him up, and risk a possible lash out, as Iblis was quite alert the moment he wakes up.

Time passes, Dark yawns and wonders how long it would be until he was noticed and wonders if he'd fall asleep for real before the attention was caught.

He exhaled softly, stretched his arms above his head and fell back without making a sound, hands behind his head. He shifted his eyes to stare at Iblis, who hadn't seem to take notice at at.

_This is taking forever..._

Dark grit his teeth a little. He wasn't a very patient person.

Five more minutes pass and he gets somewhat frustrated.

_Y'know what? Maybe this was a bad idea to begin with..._

He sat up to pick himself off the floor to step back to his bed.

"... I've been waiting for you to say something, just so you know."

Dark froze in midstep and spun around with wide eyes. Iblis had rolled over on his front, arms draped over the pillow, and was looking up at him.

"_... How long have you been awake..?_"

"About the moment you breathed out and flopped on your back."

"_But I made sure I was quiet. How did that wake you up?_"

"I'm not the one with narcolepsy or somnambulism, remember?" Iblis flashed a quick smile before pushing up from the floor to sit up. "So, what's up? Besides us."

"_... N-nothing..._"

"That's a lie and you know it." Iblis snapped.

Dark gulped and immediately adopted his submissive stance, ears folded back, teeth clenched, head low, eyes staring at the floor, quills raised slightly, tail tucked between his legs, hands reaching up feebly to ask as a form of shielding, and body shivering a little as a weak moan of dread escaped him.

Iblis huffed a short puff of air, narrowing his eyes slightly. He stood up cautiously, not wanting to startle Dark.

"Please don't. There's no reason for that." Iblis carefully inched his hands past Dark's "defense", and placed them on his shoulders. Dark jumped a bit and looked up anxiously, mouth hung open almost as lazily as his eyes looked. "I won't hurt you again, so stop being scared about that."

"... J-just d-don't like it w-when you sn-snap at me like th-that..." Dark stuttered nervously, shakily raising his hands to set them on his brother's wrists.

"... Come over here for a moment..." Iblis slid his hands away, catching Dark's in a swift movement, and tugged the twin forward to follow him.

Dark gave a startled yelp at the sudden action, but two fingers were quick to press against his lips to hush him when a hand let go of one of his wrists.

"I'm only taking you to the window, that's all." Iblis reassured him. "Come on, I want to show you something for a moment. You might enjoy it."

Dark made a faint jerking movement of his head, as if unsure if he should answer "Yes" or "No" to this, and wanted to answer neutral without seeming like he was ignoring Iblis.

Iblis smiled warmly, with his eyes closed, anyway and pulled Dark forward again, leading him to the window, and adjusting the blinds so they could look out it more clearly. He then placed his arm around Dark's shoulders and pressed his free hand against the window to push it up after he unlocked it.

"Okay, look outside now." Iblis urged him, smile getting a little bigger.

Dark did as he was told, paused, and said after a minute: "_... What... What am I looking at..?_"

"Look up there."

"_... Where..?_"

"Just look up there."

"_You mean the stars._" Dark stated plainly, heaving a sigh.

"You know about constellations, right?" Iblis ignored the less than enthusiastic response.

Dark turned his head to look at his twin with an unamused, perhaps a bit offended expression.

"Oh, I suppose you do, of course..." Iblis gave a short embarrassed laugh, scratching his head. "Anyway, look over there. Just a bit above and to the left of that Orion one."

"_... Gemini..?_"

"Yep. The Twins." Iblis nodded, smiling a little again. "I tried to look up the story behind them, but there was a lot of inconsistencies and variations. But in one version, one was immortal and the other wasn't. When the mortal one was fatally injured, the other twin asked to be allowed to share his immortality with his brother so that they could still stay together."

"_The story is incredibly inconsistent, it's hard to say if it's really that way or not..._" Dark grunted, shifting a little under the arm around his shoulders.

"Excuse me, I'm trying to give us a moment to have, don't ruin it." Iblis glared lightly, huffing through his nose briefly. "If you had your pretzel sticks, then I should be able to have the stars here."

"_You don't need to give us a moment, we were already having one._"

"At least let me have it and finish it before you shoot it down like that."

"_What can I say? I deal with facts, not fiction. What you are trying to tell me is a myth._"

"You really have no capacity for imagination, do you?"

"_What good is it, when it's not practical?_"

"You're really something, y'know?"

"_... I'm tired..._" Dark suddenly changed the subject, yawning a little.

"Then go back to sleep." Iblis twitched the corner of his mouth, trying to bite back a smile.

"_... Five more minutes..._" Dark mumbled, leaning against Iblis somewhat, nudging his head against against the twin's cheek, yawning again.

The small smile managed to escape Iblis anyway, and he put his other arm around Dark and wrapped him securely in a hug, taking care as to not squeeze too hard, as Dark was still considerably thinner than his twin, having lost a great deal of his body weight while captive, though he had at least manage to regain little more than three-quarters of what he lost back since then.

Still, as a Mobian hedgehog based creature, several pounds underweight was very close to the thin line of "thin" and "frail", with the only difference really being the condition of the quills.

Dark's managed to finally lose the brittleness, as well as the jagged splitting shafts of his quills, after several weeks of maintaining proper care, with the only real problem being that he still had a tendency to pull them out when he was particularly nerve wracked or even anxious.

"_... What are you doing..?_" Dark whispered, jarring Iblis from his thoughts roughly.

"I'm sorry, I just felt like it..."

"_... Give a warning next time..._" Dark grunted, shifting a little under the hold. "_... I could have lashed out blindly and hurt you..._"

"But, you didn't."

"_But I could have._"

"You don't give yourself enough credit with how well in control you really are." Iblis still didn't let him go.

"_... You're not as fluffy in that form..._"

"Hmm?"

"_... Your chest is bare save for a layer of fuzz..._" Dark explained, frowning slightly as he shifted under the hug to look at his twin more directly. "_... You also don't have the tufts... I'm fluffier._"

"Well, the original intent was to look differently enough from you to not arise suspicions..." Iblis answered, rolling his eyes a little.

"_... Why did you pick green..? I don't like green..._" Dark muttered, tilting his head down a bit more to look away.

"I thought I did pretty good in making this form up. It fooled you for a while, didn't it..?"

"_... Until you slipped up and stumbled on your guise..._" Dark said with a hint of smugness, lifting his head up a little more to grin at the mistake. "_... You always were a terrible actor. That's how I knew you really meant it about regretting your prior actions. Because you can't fake that._"

"I'm bad at lying, and you have no imagination... How well we compliment each other."

"_... You wish..._"

"Yes, I do."

No response this time from Dark, other than a slight gravitation downward. Iblis blinked and looked down at him more closely, and realized that Dark must have finally fallen asleep, perfectly content with being in his brother's arms, as evident by the small smile worked into his features.

Deciding that Dark shouldn't be sleeping while in an almost standing position, Iblis carefully lifted him up from the ground and once he fixed their center of balance, he quietly carried his younger twin over to his bed, taking care as to not trip over the blanket spread out on the floor. Dark stirred a little from the movement, but settled back down without so much as opening his eyes as he was carefully set down in a position he was often curled up in. A soft snore escaped him within seconds.

Iblis couldn't help but snicker just a little more when a dribble of drool slid out of Dark's half open mouth, reaching for the corner of the blanket to wipe it off.

Had anyone noticed the hedgehog watching silently from his bed, they might have seen the small smile place in his features before he rolled over to face the wall.

Iblis never did think to ask Dark why he had been awake to begin with.

* * *

"_Does anyone know where my sunglasses are..?_"

"You should have found them the night before..."

"_They're not where I had left them last time, Shadow!_"

"We're going to be late, and you're tearing up the house..."

"_I can't find them! I refuse to take one step outside in this weather without them! Where are they! WHERE ARE THEY!_"

Indeed, Dark was tearing up the house trying to find his protective eyewear. The TV was pulled several feet away from the wall, the closets were open with contents strewn across the floors, the couch was askew from it's usual spot, and volumes of books were thrown haphazardly across the room.

"Calm down before you make the computer explode..." Shadow was watching with an "Oh here he goes again..." look.

"_Maybe you don't understand. I can not go outside on a bright day like this without protecting my eyes! I'll go blind!_" Dark shouted, turning to look at him with his eyes wide open and pupils shrunken, body trembling in fear. "_Maybe not completely, but everything will be dark for a long while! I don't like the dark! I don't like it at all! It's not fun! I need those sunglasses!_"

Eventually, Dark was sulking in a corner, upset that his sunglasses were nowhere to be found. This might have looked humorous, if not for how downright pitiful and forlorn Dark managed to appear in doing so.

Suddenly, he felt something get placed on his head, and he lowered his hands from his face to look up briefly, before realizing he couldn't see from that angle, and simply reached up to touch it instead.

His sunglasses.

"They were on the third shelf on the bookcase in our room." Mephiles explained with a warm smile.

Dark became horribly aware of just how much of a fuss and mess he had made whilst searching for his sunglasses, and that he had acted nearly hysterical the longer it took to find them, only to find that they were in such an obvious place.

His pale face flushed a dark red color across the cheeks, and he withdrew further, wanting nothing more to curl up and disappear, now.

Mephiles was having none of it, and gently coaxed Dark out of the corner, promising him that no one really cared about how frantic he had been about the sunglasses.

"Now, if we don't hurry up, we'll be late..." The hedgehog added, catching the shadow by the hands and helping to pull him to his feet.

Of course. The party for Sonic's birthday. In which was going to be held outside in the sun. With quite a handful of guests, many of whom Dark never personally met, if at all.

The idea of spending such a large amount of time exposed to the sun, surrounded by unfamiliar faces, and well out of his comfort zone, made Dark feel almost ill once the full realization of what he was going to do hit him in a way that left a sensation not unlike that of missing a step on the stairs, sinking faster than anticipated, making one flail for the handrail to catch themselves before they fell.

Now he wanted nothing more than to lock himself in a room and brood.

Mephiles must have sensed the unease and said to him quietly: "... If you feel uncomfortable at any time... Tell me and I'll see what I can do to help..."

_Of course I'll be uncomfortable, I'm going to be surrounded by people I hardly know, one of which a past life tried to kill, and another being one that saw me in a crazed state of mind... Oh, it's going to be fun, I'm sure..._

Dark would have said that, if not for the fact his voice wasn't working properly. He managed a small squeaking sound, and nodded hesitantly, fumbling to slide the sunglasses down over his eyes, then gripped the hedgehog's arm tightly, pressing his face against it, as if terrified that he was going to be left behind.

Honestly, he really couldn't help but feel that they should all just stay home that day. He would have told Mephiles, but decided against it as it would only come off as him being his usual paranoid self when it came to social interaction.

* * *

"Hey Tails! It's nice to see you again!" Mephiles eagerly greeted the yellow-orange fox, with Dark in tow (who had yet to let go since he grabbed on back at the house). "Thanks again for fixing that collar. Dark doesn't have to worry about getting sick from the heat now that we're in the summer time, which is good."

"No problem. It really wasn't that hard to fix up, so it's wasn't a hassle at all." Tails nodded with a smile, reaching over to shake Mephiles' free hand. "In fact, it kinda led to me working on another project that's still in it's test form, but I figure it might be useful for you."

"Me..?"

"Uh-huh. See, while working on the collar, I started to wonder if a similar wearable system could work for motion sickness..." Tails let go of the hedgehog's hand and motioned for him to follow him to one of the tables. "Obviously not, because motion sickness and heat exhaustion are competent different things, but I recalled something on acupressure and how pressure on a certain nerve could help counter it. Then I wondered if I could work that into something wearable, like a bracelet..."

Shu/Iblis was inspecting the party area with great interest, seeing that the decorations were quite a bit more colorful than Dark's "birthday" party had.

Then again, at least _they_ had balloons stapled to a wall, which was pretty impressive as was. Shu grinned a little to himself at how utterly baffled Dark had been to see such an accomplishment managed by the hedgehog without popping them, and still to this day, no one was able to explain just _how._

The balloons here were filled with helium and were held to the tables and ground by ribbons and weights. His brother's party balloons were better, in his opinion.

"Hello, I don't believe we've met before. Are you are friend of Sonic's as well..?" A vaguely female voice with a very mild accent sounded off behind him, and he cautiously glanced behind himself to confirm that the comment was meant for him.

A purple cat with yellow eyes, hair tied off in a ponytail on the top of her head, and wearing a purple and white outfit decorated with white fuzzy cuffs, pink shoes with heels sporting a white band similar to Sonic's own shoes, and a golden necklace of sorts hung from her neck.

Blaze the Cat.

Iblis recognized her only barely, as most of the memories of his life as a fire breathing magma monster were so long behind and Time was no longer converging between him and his brother, no longer giving them memories of things that had yet to happen...

He hoped that he didn't show a flicker of recognition, as he was willing to start over and make a new first impression.

"Not exactly, but my friend's brother is..." That felt so awkward coming from his mouth... But he had to keep appearances up, after all. He gestured over to the pair in question who were in company of the young fox. "Sonic sort of looked after him during the whole Dark Gaia thing, and my friend was rescued from that scientist guy, who captured him because he was one of the ones 'infected'..."

Before he really knew it, Shu was recounting a simplified version of the events, taking care as to not reveal what should be kept secret.

"Anyway, what's your name..?" He realized he hadn't asked yet, and didn't want to risk slipping up before he got far.

"Blaze. And you?"

"Shu."

"A shy one over there, isn't he..?" Blaze took notice of Dark continually choosing to hide behind Mephiles, well out of earshot. If the constant hold Dark had on the hedgehog was in any way restrictive as it appeared... Mephiles did not show it to be.

"The funny thing is is that it's usually reversed with them..." Shu explained, looking back at her. "But Dark doesn't like social activity that much, as he's spent a great deal of time forcibly isolated, so the idea of it is very uncomfortable to him. He just doesn't know how to handle it very well."

"You speak as if you know him better than just a friend."

Shu's heterochromic eyes widened just slightly, pupils shrinking in a way barely noticeable as he clenched his jaw a little.

"Y-yeah... I suppose you could say that..."

"I understand that." The cat nodded, not looking at him at the moment. "Hmm... What's that shiny stuff on them..?"

"The light blue?"

"Yes. That doesn't look like any fur or quill texture I've ever seen before."

"Crystal. I think it's a side effect from too much contact with Chaos Energy at a young age for them both or something..." Shu explained briefly, using the basic cover story on the subject. "It's very interesting, really. It's resistant to physical damage on what's covered, except electricity. Their claws are really sharp, which can be both good and bad. But it works and feels like skin and flesh, like a really thick layer..."

"Chaos Energy..? Do they have any abilities..?"

"Well, they both can alter forms to some degree... It'll probably get better as they get older. Dark can control a good deal of darkness, like shadows, on his own..." Shu said with a bit of pride for his little twin brother. "He can even warp with them, and move some things without even touching them."

"So is he psychokenetic..?"

"Psycho-what? No, I'm sure he's-"

"I meant if he was able to move things with his mind." Blaze looked back at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh. Um... I'm not sure how that works, really. He just does it..." Shu blushed a little nervously. "Anyway... Uh... Mephy on the other hand, he's got this interesting ability to heal himself and others if the injury is minor or moderate. The worse it is, though, the more it hurts him back, but he can speed up recovery time if used right. We have to be careful, though..."

"Because he can get hurt by it..?"

"Kinda... The problem is that he'll push himself to go further if he thinks it'll help just a bit more. He doesn't care about it hurting himself."

Meanwhile, back to Mephy and Dark.

"So, you don't have any hard feelings about how Dark treated you at first, do you?" Mephiles asked, looking at the new silvery bluish bracelet now on his wrist, like a thin version of Shadow's wrist Rings. "Because he was worried that-"

"_... I can speak for myself, y'know..._"

"Well, you haven't for the past ten minutes, and I didn't want to talk about just me."

"_... There's too many people here... And it's too wide open... And it's too bright..._" Dark hid his face again, shying away from the light again by burying his face in Mephiles' shoulder.

"At least hang in there until you meet Sonic." Mephiles said, reaching over to pat Dark on the head with a laugh. "I mean, after all, he's one of the ones to cart me around to find you."

"It really wasn't any trouble." Tails nodded, tilting his head to look at Dark. "You're very lucky that Mephiles was willing to do everything he could you find you. He even fought off a few of those creatures."

"Not very well, mind you. It was more like I got lucky with those Dummy Rings and just fumbled through the rest. You guys probably saved me more times than I actually managed to help..." Mephiles blushed awkwardly, reaching up to scratch his head. "Not to mention the whole barfing in your plane thing... Not a very good first impression, really..."

"And that's what I hope that bracelet will help to stop." Tails have a short laugh, and turned away to continue checking that the party was set up properly. "Where's Shadow and Rouge, by the way? Didn't they come with you guys?"

"Yeah, but they had to leave for a moment to pick something up that they forgot..."

"I hope they get here before Sonic does. I want all of us here so can be a cool surprise..."

"Y'know, I think I've met or seen everyone around here before except that red guy and that purple cat..."

"You should go talk with everyone while I check on everything..."

"Y'sure you don't need help with that..?"

"Naw, I'll be fine, I think."

"Really? Because I think I can-"

"No, you go on and have fun. I just want to be sure it's perfect for Sonic." Tails said, looking at the cooler beside the table that was holding the cold snacks. "Um... you're allergic to cheese, right?"

"Yeah." Mephiles nodded, shifting his ears back a little.

"Maybe I should just leave the cheese off the the chillidogs so everyone can add what amount they want, and if they want it off..." The fox pressed a finger to his forehead in thought. "That, and the cheese should be kept out of the heat as much as possible until we actually need it..."

"_... I don't mean to sound nitpicky... but I'm not all into the whole meat thing, is there an alternative..?_"

"Well, the chilli is meat-free, we could just dump it on one of the toasted buns, it'll just be messier."

"_That_ _works..._"

"Oh, by the way, Mephiles..." Tails added, opening a large bottle of punch and pouring it into a pitcher filled halfway with ice. "Sonic's been wondering if Shadow ever opened that box Sonic left on the door step some time ago..?"

"... Box..?"

"Yeah. He called Sonic up after some time to chew him out about leaving it on the porch, that it was heavy and he tripped over it, and was just going to shove it in the closet for a while."

"Oh, that thing. I dunno. It's kinda in the corner at the bottom of the closet, still in the box..." Mephiles glanced off to the side in thought, scratching his head. "... Shadow may have forgotten about it, even. Did he ever say what was in it?"

"No, but he seemed like he thought it was a little funny idea..."

* * *

Let's just be brief here.

We all know what happens next.

Sonic arrives to his party, everyone is happy, surprise surprise, Sonic gets his chilidog gift, then BOOM!

Time rift opens up.

Let's skip to that, shall we?

You've all waited far too long.

One by one, each and every guest present at the party were being pulled into separate holes in time, no matter how hard they held onto something to keep from being taken.

Dark had a tight hold on Mephiles' hand, the shadow digging his claws of his other hand into the tree they had been standing by when this began (coincidentally the tree where Mephiles' small hedgehog family was laid to rest).

Shu, unable to firmly sink his claws into the tree trunk due to this form not having the same type of claws as his common form, felt his grip slipping, much to his horror. Three seconds after this thought occurred to him, the bark he had been clinging to, snapped and peeled off, dislodging him as he fell towards a portal mutely.

This led to one of the most impressive reaction times anyone had witnessed with Mephiles, as the hedgehog managed to use his free hand to grab a foot. It would seem that his survival instincts were kicked into overdrive at the moment, and even he himself seemed surprised that he had been able to do that.

Shu took a moment to register that he hadn't fallen in, and watched Dark's sunglasses enter the portal instead. He blinked.

"What is happening!" He shouted over the cries of all the others being pulled in, looking up at the large swirling mass of purplish shadows that seemed to have caused this.

"_Unless I'm mistaken, which I doubt, we're witnessing a tear in the fabric of time!_" Dark grit his teeth at the combined force of all three of them causing his shoulder to twinge. The very shoulder that had been dislocated once before, mind you. "_Maybe this isn't the best time to say this, but I'm not surprised at all, and I really wanted to stay home today anyway!_"

"Don't tell me you knew this was going to happen!" Mephiles shouted back, lifting his head up to look at Dark with a slight glare.

"_No! I just didn't want to come because I'm not a social person!_"

"Um... Can we focus on the fact that we seem to be getting closer to this thing!" Shu snapped at both of them, easily able to judge that his face was just an arm's length away from the portal now.

"_Excuse me! I'm trying to support all three of us, with one hand, with an arm that's been injured before and with a tree that seems to have loose bark! I'd like to see you do better!_"

"This is really _not_ the time to be arguing!" Mephiles chimed in, sounding annoyed.

Dark felt his grip on Mephiles slip, and, against his better judgement, he reacted by letting go of the tree and catching hold with his now free hand as well.

Seconds before they fell in, Mephiles added: "... Please do_ not_ tell me you just let go of the tree..."

"_... Uh oh..._"


End file.
